Tracy Arm 9am to 9:30am

[kj_connections]

I will be on the Volendam in August and the itinerary says we will be in Tracy Arm from 9-9:30am only, and then in Juneau the same day at 1pm.  Will I get to see much in Tracy Arm?  I heard that sailing through the fjord is beautiful but I don't think we will be doing that if the itinerary is just for 30min...am I right?

[CruiserBruce]

Pretty sure your visit is strictly to drop pax off with a tour boat that will take people through the Arm to the glaciers. 

[kj_connections]

5 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Pretty sure your visit is strictly to drop pax off with a tour boat that will take people through the Arm to the glaciers. 

So then the ship leaves Tracy Arm and heads to Juneau?

[CruiserBruce]

2 minutes ago, kj_connections said:

So then the ship leaves Tracy Arm and heads to Juneau?

Yep, and those that go on the tour meet the ship in Juneau. 

[cw2go]

9 hours ago, kj_connections said:

So then the ship leaves Tracy Arm and heads to Juneau?

I highly recommend taking the tour if still available. Tracy Arm is gorgeous, many rave about Glacier Bay and it is special but I personally preferred Tracy Arm. 

 

Patty 

[quack2]

14 hours ago, cw2go said:

I highly recommend taking the tour if still available. Tracy Arm is gorgeous, many rave about Glacier Bay and it is special but I personally preferred Tracy Arm. 

 

Patty 

Amen.

[Coral]

On 4/14/2023 at 7:14 AM, cw2go said:

I highly recommend taking the tour if still available. Tracy Arm is gorgeous, many rave about Glacier Bay and it is special but I personally preferred Tracy Arm. 

 

Patty 

Sort of comparing apples and oranges in more ways than one.

 

For example - Tracy Arm via cruise ship is awful. Tracy Arm via small boat is amazing! The cruise ships just often don't have time to navigate through the twists and turns and through the ice while the small boats can (AdventureBound, Allen Marine). Tracy Arm (Dawes Glacier) is often the most missed glacier by cruise ships.

 

Glacier Bay and their glaciers is probably the most accessible glaciers. It is an all day experience and is beautiful. The chances of missing Glacier Bay on cruise ship is probably 1%. Though, very few niche ships can allow closer access to this from their ship (mostly expedition ships can take kayaks out, etc... - thinking Un-Cruise, etc...). That would definitely be a once in a lifetime experience that I have not had the opportunity to partake in.

[cw2go]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

Sort of comparing apples and oranges in more ways than one.

 

For example - Tracy Arm via cruise ship is awful. Tracy Arm via small boat is amazing! The cruise ships just often don't have time to navigate through the twists and turns and through the ice while the small boats can (AdventureBound, Allen Marine). Tracy Arm (Dawes Glacier) is often the most missed glacier by cruise ships.

 

Glacier Bay and their glaciers is probably the most accessible glaciers. It is an all day experience and is beautiful. The chances of missing Glacier Bay on cruise ship is probably 1%. Though, very few niche ships can allow closer access to this from their ship (mostly expedition ships can take kayaks out, etc... - thinking Un-Cruise, etc...). That would definitely be a once in a lifetime experience that I have not had the opportunity to partake in.

 

I didn't find Tracy Arm by cruise ship to be awful... I did both via cruise ship and I still preferred Tracy Arm.

 

So... In my personal experience they're more like comparing red apples to green apples. 😁

 

Patty 

 

 

[Coral]

55 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

I didn't find Tracy Arm by cruise ship to be awful... I did both via cruise ship and I still preferred Tracy Arm.

 

So... In my personal experience they're more like comparing red apples to green apples. 😁

 

Patty 

 

 

I guess mine have been awful because we couldn't even get close to the glacier to see it. And I know this is extremely common with Tracy Arm/Dawes glacier. And this has been multiple times. There are several years where ships couldn't get far enough to see the glacier until mid to end of July.

 

Glad you were able to get close - definitely not the norm.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Coral

[Coral]

29 minutes ago, Coral said:

I guess mine have been awful because we couldn't even get close to the glacier to see it. And I know this is extremely common with Tracy Arm/Sawyer glaciers. And this has been multiple times. There are several years where ships couldn't get far enough to see the glacier until mid to end of July.

 

Glad you were able to get close - definitely not the norm.

Sorry - wrong glacier!

[CaribbeanIsland]

I have been to Tracy Arm 5x via cruise ship. I have yet to see the glacier at the end.

 

Give me Glacier Bay any day!

[cw2go]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I guess mine have been awful because we couldn't even get close to the glacier to see it. And I know this is extremely common with Tracy Arm/Dawes glacier. And this has been multiple times. There are several years where ships couldn't get far enough to see the glacier until mid to end of July.

 

Glad you were able to get close - definitely not the norm.

 

Went back to my pics to be sure I remembered correctly, this is my Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier Sailing.

At the time I had no idea what to expect and from what I've learned since, I believe I did get super lucky. 

 

I still want to get back on a smaller boat, I loved our day there! 

 

Old camera, very little zoom ~ Sailed June 2010

 

Patty 

 

[Coral]

42 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

Went back to my pics to be sure I remembered correctly, this is my Tracy Arm/Sawyer Glacier Sailing.

At the time I had no idea what to expect and from what I've learned since, I believe I did get super lucky. 

 

I still want to get back on a smaller boat, I loved our day there! 

 

Old camera, very little zoom ~ Sailed June 2010

 

Patty 

 

Great pictures!!! 🙂  You were very lucky!

Edited April 15, 2023 by Coral

[donaldsc]

On 4/14/2023 at 6:14 AM, cw2go said:

I highly recommend taking the tour if still available. Tracy Arm is gorgeous, many rave about Glacier Bay and it is special but I personally preferred Tracy Arm. 

 

Patty 

 

Just to add a bit more confusion to the mix.  I have done the Kenai Fjord day trips out of Seward several times and the glaciers there are also very very good and you are almost certain to get into them.

 

I agree that the only way to do Tracy Arm is on a small boat or a small ship.  When we did AK on a small ship we got so close to the glacier that when it calved the boat rocked.  We also got to the glaciers last summer on zodiacs.  We were doing another small ship AK cruise. They got as close as they could and we went the rest of the way in on zodiac.

 

Just to clarify my verbiage.  To me a small boat is one that you take a day trip on.  A small ship is a cruise ship that holds no more than 200 or so passengers.  Our small ship cruises to AK were on ships that held 50 passengers and 150 passengers.  My goal is some day to do AK on a 10 passenger trawler ship.  

 

One of the times we were in Tracy Arm there were people there on a small sailboat.  That would also be way of doing it.  

 

DON

[my kids mama]

7 hours ago, Coral said:

I guess mine have been awful because we couldn't even get close to the glacier to see it. And I know this is extremely common with Tracy Arm/Dawes glacier. And this has been multiple times. There are several years where ships couldn't get far enough to see the glacier until mid to end of July.

 

Glad you were able to get close - definitely not the norm.

Even with the excursion of getting off of your ship and getting on a smaller boat?

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, my kids mama said:

Even with the excursion of getting off of your ship and getting on a smaller boat?

Variety of reasons. The boat ride isn't always offered. Or the ship skips Tracy Arm (too iced to go in and gets diverted to Endicott Arm then the smaller boat doesn't go into Tracy Arm in that situation.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Coral

[Coral]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

 

Just to clarify my verbiage.  To me a small boat is one that you take a day trip on.  A small ship is a cruise ship that holds no more than 200 or so passengers.  Our small ship cruises to AK were on ships that held 50 passengers and 150 passengers.  My goal is some day to do AK on a 10 passenger trawler ship.  

The small ship would be a great experience also! I should have said that. We saw a small ship going to Tracy Arm the day we went once (Cruise West, now defunct).

 

[DougH]

In 15 or so visit to Tracy Arm by Cruise ship I have only gotten past the island where the Fjord splits to the North and South Sawyer glaciers. The one exception was on the Dawn Princess just before the ship was moved to Australia. Captain said he wanted to see the glacier and took us to North Sawyer. Next time I was on Adventure Bound I mentioned this to Captain Steve and he could not belive that the Dawn Princess made it there. Tracy Arm is still impressive but you might see South Sawyer but you will still be miles away

[majmaj4]

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Just to add a bit more confusion to the mix.  I have done the Kenai Fjord day trips out of Seward several times and the glaciers there are also very very good and you are almost certain to get into them.

 

I agree that the only way to do Tracy Arm is on a small boat or a small ship.  When we did AK on a small ship we got so close to the glacier that when it calved the boat rocked.  We also got to the glaciers last summer on zodiacs.  We were doing another small ship AK cruise. They got as close as they could and we went the rest of the way in on zodiac.

 

Just to clarify my verbiage.  To me a small boat is one that you take a day trip on.  A small ship is a cruise ship that holds no more than 200 or so passengers.  Our small ship cruises to AK were on ships that held 50 passengers and 150 passengers.  My goal is some day to do AK on a 10 passenger trawler ship.  

 

One of the times we were in Tracy Arm there were people there on a small sailboat.  That would also be way of doing it.  

 

DON

If you had to chose, would it be Tracy Arm or Kenai Fjord?

[donaldsc]

59 minutes ago, majmaj4 said:

If you had to chose, would it be Tracy Arm or Kenai Fjord?

 

They are completely different. 

 

Tracy Arm is much narrower.  We did not see much marine life on our way in.  We got very close closer to South Sawyer glacier the 3 times we went in but you have to remember that we were on small ships.

 

On Kenai we did the 7 1/2 cruise - see the map - https://majormarine.com/tour/7.5-hour-kenai-fjords-national-park-cruise/.  You go over open water and we lucked out with sea life.  On one of our trips we had a huge pod of orcas.  The captain said that he had never seen so many.  We got up close to 2 tidewater glaciers.  On one of our trips we saw a piedmont glacier but we didn't get into it on our 2nd trip.  You almost always get into them while you don't lots of time w Tracy Arm.  You also get a nice lunch on the cruise.

 

It is hard to make a decision especially as you will be going in on a cruise ship and went in on small ships with Tracy Arm but if you forced me decide I would say Kenai Fjord.

 

DON

 

[Coral]

7 hours ago, majmaj4 said:

If you had to chose, would it be Tracy Arm or Kenai Fjord?

Do both!!!!! You only live once.

[Coral]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

They are completely different. 

 

Tracy Arm is much narrower.  We did not see much marine life on our way in.  We got very close closer to South Sawyer glacier the 3 times we went in but you have to remember that we were on small ships.

 

On Kenai we did the 7 1/2 cruise - see the map - https://majormarine.com/tour/7.5-hour-kenai-fjords-national-park-cruise/.  You go over open water and we lucked out with sea life.  On one of our trips we had a huge pod of orcas.  The captain said that he had never seen so many.  We got up close to 2 tidewater glaciers.  On one of our trips we saw a piedmont glacier but we didn't get into it on our 2nd trip.  You almost always get into them while you don't lots of time w Tracy Arm.  You also get a nice lunch on the cruise.

 

It is hard to make a decision especially as you will be going in on a cruise ship and went in on small ships with Tracy Arm but if you forced me decide I would say Kenai Fjord.

 

DON

 

We got to see a huge pod of orcas on AdventureBound once.  We sat there for 30 minutes. Amazing. Other times we just saw 2 whales or so. We have also seen bears. I have seen quite a bit wild life on Tracy Arm, not sure if that is unusual or not.

 

I agree it would be difficult to make that decision. Both tours are great.

[cabland]

A few additional tidbits:

 

• The cruise ship, in the OP's example, doesn't really go "into" Tracy Arm...more like "near the opening" where it stops briefly and the folks that have paid for that excursion hop onto the smaller boat.
• The smaller boat heads into Tracy Arm while the cruise ship heads on to Juneau.
• While you are in Tracy arm on the smaller boat that boat will attempt to navigate to both the Northern and Southern arms of Sawyer glacier....but you may only end up seeing one (as ours did...they blamed our cruise ship for being "late").
• Once the excursion is "done" they head back to Juneau.  Along the way they may point out and even stop for whales if they come across them.
• When you get to Juneau, you actually disembark ONTO the cruise ship (not the dock)..not sure if they are making sure they have all the guests that got off or what.  You can then head out for other excursions or whatever.
• It is still a long day (like 9:00 am to 3:00).
• If your cruise ship does not offer the "hop on the little boat when we pass Tracy Arm" option you can sometimes do the same excursion direct from Juneau.  Unfortunately, it makes for an even longer trip as the little boat has to head BACK to Tracy Arm from Juneau.  Obviously you need to have enough time in port to pull this off.
• As other have said, on some cruises the cruise ship itself heads into the Fjord (could be Tracy Arm or Endicott, etc.).  In those cases, the ship gets as close as it can to the glacier, but that may be quite far off.  In many cases, those ships too will offer an excursion where you get onto a smaller boat.  I originally assumed those excursions all returned to the ship WHILE IT WAS STILL IN THE FJORD, but a recent YouTube video (for Endicott Arm and Dawes glacier) showed their small boat met up with the cruise ship back in Juneau too.

 

I definitely recommend the excursion from the boat either way.

[bonvoyagie]

way back in 2002 we went to Tracy Arm on the NCL Sky. we got fairly close but the captain decided to send the ship's photographer in the zodiac to get even closer, he came back with some great photos that we all purchased. We returned on the same ship the following year and did not get close at all. Next in 2012 on the Pearl we did Glacier Bay but were offered a small boat excursion that began and ended in Junau but went up Tracy Arm to both glaciers - it was fantastic. To the poster who showed the great photos, we were within 1/2 mile of the face  - she was at least 2mi from it as we were inside the rocks in the midground of her photo. During that trip we encountered the NCL Sun as well as a HAL ship in the fjord. Seeing it from water level is way different than from the cruise ship. BTW the only calving we saw was at South Sawyer - none in Glacier Bay. Each cruise line offers different small boat tours into both Endicott Arm and/or Tracy Arm - mainly depending on if the the ship visits Juneau before or after the glacier cruising, 

 

If the OP has their timing correct, the small boat tour leaves the ship prior to it entering the fjord and ending up in Juneau after the ship arrives. The ship will also enter the fjord for glacier veiwing and end up in Juneau at or around 1:00 The small boat tour may arrive around 2:00 or so.

[DaveOKC]

Also on the Volendam in mid-Sept and even though the itinerary shows a stop at 9-9:30 AM, no excursions (the Tracy Arm one) are offered so far!  Has anyone else traveling on HAL experienced this?  We really want to do this.